Catherine Scorsese Spaghetti Sauce

Scorsese’s mother Catherine, who was born on Elizabeth Street, appeared as Tommy (Joe Pesci)’s mother, and she famously cooked for the cast and crew of her son’s movies. When Jimmy Kimmel asked Martin Scorsese about shaving garlic with a razor—that’s what Paul Vario (played by Paul Sorvino) does in prison—the director said, “My mother made a dish called chicken with lemon and garlic and if you go to Francis Coppola’s restaurant he has it on the menu… It’s pretty good, pretty close… The garlic was cut so thin and she would put it on the chicken and the chicken would be roasted… and the garlic would blacken and then disappear into the lemon juice. It was delicious.” Mmmm.

Catherine Scorsese died in 1997, at age 84. Martin Scorsese published a book of her recipes, and his famous friends remembered her cooking: Robert DeNiro said, “She made the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. I always wanted to serve it at TriBeCa Grill,” while Harvey Keitel said, “In my memory, Catherine was the epitome of a warm, loving Italian mother. She enjoyed watching me eat as much as I enjoyed eating her cooking.” And Pesci said, “Katie was one of the sweetest ladies I ever met. She was a true innocent. She never did anything bad; she never knew anything bad. In terms of her cooking, it’s a toss-up as to who’s a better cook, Katie or my mother.“

The pasta sauce recipe, below, was included in the credits of a 10-minute Scorsese film, ”Italianamerican,” which recorded a visit by the director with his parents at their home. The movie was shown at the New York Film Festival in 1974.

Catherine Scorsese’s

Pasta Sauce

Total time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

1 large onion, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cans (28 ounces each) whole tomatoes in thick puree

2 cans (16 ounces each) tomato sauce

2 cups water

1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

3 large cloves garlic, peeled

2 carrots, peeled

1 all-purpose potato, peeled

5 tablespoons minced fresh basil, or 1 tablespoon dried

5 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, or 1 tablespoon dried

Salt to taste

Cayenne pepper to taste

1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/4 cup milk

6 ounces ground pork

6 ounces ground veal

6 ounces ground beef

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan.

1. In a 6-quart, or larger, saucepan or casserole, cook the onion in the oil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.